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How Britain stole $45 trillion from India And lied about it .
sgtdjones
2018-12-15 17:06:32
How Britain stole $45 trillion from India
And lied about it.
There is a story that is commonly told in Britain that the colonisation of India - as horrible as it may have been - was not of any major economic benefit to Britain itself. If anything, the administration of India was a cost to Britain. So the fact that the empire was sustained for so long - the story goes - was a gesture of Britain's benevolence.
New research by the renowned economist Utsa Patnaik - just published by Columbia University Press - deals a crushing blow to this narrative. Drawing on nearly two centuries of detailed data on tax and trade, Patnaik calculated that Britain drained a total of nearly $45 trillion from India during the period 1765 to 1938.
It's a staggering sum. For perspective, $45 trillion is 17 times more than the total annual gross domestic product of the United Kingdom today.
How did this come about?
Link Text
sgtdjones
2018-12-15 17:07:47
Here's how it worked. The East India Company began collecting taxes in India, and then cleverly used a portion of those revenues (about a third) to fund the purchase of Indian goods for British use. In other words, instead of paying for Indian goods out of their own pocket, British traders acquired them for free, "buying" from peasants and weavers using money that had just been taken from them.
It was a scam - theft on a grand scale. Yet most Indians were unaware of what was going on because the agent who collected the taxes was not the same as the one who showed up to buy their goods. Had it been the same person, they surely would have smelled a rat.
tsk tsk....
Chrissy
2018-12-15 18:00:58
England enriched herself killing, plundering and looting others - they are barbarians. They sure fooled a lot of folks.
cricketmygame
2018-12-15 18:23:01
In reply to sgtdjones
Megan Markle is a princess now and all is forgiven
Dan_De_Lyan
2018-12-15 18:48:57
granite
2018-12-16 07:09:23
Don't forget what they took from the Maharaja Ranjith Singh of the Punjab,it was said that what they took almost financed their time in India,wasn't the Kohinoor part of their collection.We mustn't forget what early Afghan invaders and also Persian s took from the Indians.
bravos
2018-12-16 09:05:51
In reply to granite
And all the while they wondered why the Indians who outnumbered them over 100:1 did not revolt or simply chase them out..
Indians seem to adore and admire the blond hair blue eyed Caucasian god of death and plunder...
granite
2018-12-16 12:31:50
In reply to bravos
You are right,Indians do show respect for the white race but that goes for most non white races apart from Afro Americans.Indians have always been a conservative bunch but there were many attempts to get the Brits out,it sprung up from the attitude of the British who was forcing many changes on the Indians,even forcing Christianity on many.In 1857 a very large part of the Indian Army rebelled against the British,murdering men women and even children,it was mayhem both sides suffered great losses many Indian civilians were slaughtered,they should get some credit for trying.The Indians at that time was never a match for the Brits,you are aware the Brits were the most powerful country in the world at the time.After that 1857 attempt the Brits strengthened all their Garrisons,the Indians didn't stand a chance.
The Haitians must credited as the only black race who successfully chased out their French slave owners,If there are others you can tell me.Respect to you sah.
bravos
2018-12-16 12:56:58
In reply to granite
No other possessed the majority differential, wealth, resources, widespread established social and cultural structures that India did..others were mostly simple fragmented tribal sects occupying land there for the taking,not established old world empires hundreds times bigger and in many sectors more advanced than their invaders..
I assumed you took all that into consideration as I did before I drafted my comment..
Big respect to the Haitians and Persians..
granite
2018-12-16 15:04:27
In reply to bravos
The Persians...Not many are aware that the early Persians used to march into India and march back out with with their caravans filled to the top with treasures,gold and diamonds.Many stayed and set up their Empires just like the Turks,seems like the Indians only worry was their religion.During the reign of Gupta,the Persians would also offer up a Persian Princess of sorts and she would be exchanged for gifts.
Chrissy
2018-12-16 17:48:03
In reply to granite
Very true re Haiti but hurricanes have their benefits. 
granite
2018-12-16 18:55:59
In reply to Chrissy
The French made sure that the Haitians would suffer for fighting against slavery and eventually winning freedom.The Haitians were made to pay reparations to the French slave owners to the tune of $21 billion,that made Haiti one of the poorest countries in the world,add hurricanes to the spiteful french,the Gods are not yet ready to smile on Haiti.
Chrissy
2018-12-17 04:12:18
In reply to granite
Not just the French - the racist Western powers will never forgive them for running them out of Haiti. Haiti is vulnerable to both hurricanes and earthquakes, but hurricanes actually helped the revolution.
